A Client asked me this.  In return I asked her, “By retire, do you mean when can you stop having to work out of necessity and stop working if you want to but maintain your lifestyle?”

She said, “Yes, when can I stop?”  I said, “Never, at the rate you are going.” 

Here is the irony.  This is a person who is earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, often over a half million.  But she has been spending every bit of it and more. 

I said, “To maintain your lifestyle when you stop working means you have to have investments and savings, a net worth that provides enough income to maintain your lifestyle.  Since you have built no net worth, you will never retire.”

I was purposely blunt because I knew that with her level of earnings, if she controlled her spending, it was possible for her to create the net worth that would provide for her retirement. I said, “If you scaled back your spending you could save a couple hundred thousand dollars a year or more.  In ten years you would be in a position to be able to slow down significantly, if not stop if you wanted to."

Build net worth.  Most of you reading this are Real Estate Agents.  Do you own property?  That is the smartest fastest way to build net worth although it takes some work.  Regardless of what you do with your savings and investment funds, are you controlling your spending and building net worth. 

It is never too early or too late to start or to increase the pace at which you are building your financial foundation.